Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Since the Panthers are playing their first-ever regular-season game on Thursday this week, I'm posting my prediction on Wednesday rather than on Friday as I normally do.

OK, here's the deal: I think Carolina is going to win this one by 11.

Why? I think Carolina is catching the Dolphins at a good time, first of all. Miami won't have RB Ronnie Brown in this one, and he's the most effective weapon the Dolphins have got. I'm sure crusty old former Panthers coordinator Dan Henning will have some "Wildcat" tricks up his sleeve in Miami, but I don't think the Panthers will allow Ricky Williams or Chad Henne to have too big of a day.

Also, Carolina's own running game has been very good for most of the past month. Even without Pro Bowl LT Jordan Gross, I think it will be that way again. I think Carolina will control the clock and that Jake Delhomme will make a few good things happen.

Let's face it, neither of these teams is exactly going to contend for a Super Bowl spot. With both of them 4-5, the best you can say about this one is the winner gets to .500. But I think Carolina ultimately has more talent and is rounding into form a little better, having won 4 of its past 6.

My prediction: Carolina 27, Miami 16.

The stats: I am 6-3 predicting Panther games so far this season and am on a mild two-game win streak, including my pick of Carolina's home upset victory over the Falcons Sunday.

28 comments:

MrBernz
said...

I think the Panthers are ready to show theyre for real finally. They had a good game against the Saints & beat the Falcons, those are both good teams to build confidence. And why arent they poised for a superbowl? If they can make a wild card spot they can win a superbowl. Theyre 1 win out of a spot for a wildcard. Anything can happen & I am a fan with some faith. I dont care how much they win by as long as they win. GOOOO PANTHERS!!!!!!!!

Someone said Smith was hurt and wont play so hopefully this is true solving the short reciever prob giving the Panthers more flexible air space as Delhome will have taller targets to hit when he has to throw high or wide to keep them away from DBs and dosent have to thread the pint sized needle risking interceptions.

No, Time Warner didn't kill this one. The Panthers' Thursday night game will be broadcast locally on WAXN. NFL rules require that the local team's games be broadcast by at least one station. And who said Goodell was all bad?

Scott, I am with you my friend, and I hope you're right about the outcome, but I think it will be a lot closer. With the loss of Gross, coupled with the rest of the injuries, I'm not sure it won't be closer than you think. Besides, Dan Henning has worked with most of these players and certainly knows their weaknesses. He also knows John Fox's weaknesses.

Miami is better than everybody realizes. They lost games to Indianapolis and New Orleans due to not being able to finish in the 4th quarter. If Miami finally puts a complete game together, the Dolphins defense stops the run (5th in the league, I believe) and puts Jake in a position to have to win the game, this could be a long night for the Panthers.

Miami is 7th in rushing defense, right in front of Arizona at 8th. Arizona was 1st against the run until the Panthers ran into them (pun intended), and they haven't recovered since.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Brees (1 pick, 1 lost fumble against us) and Matty Ice (2 picks against us) are significantly better quarterbacks than Henne is.

The Wildcat and Henning's desire to stick it to his former employer (if that kind of stuff is even on his radar) are the Dolphin's best weapons. Our defense has been FLUID in coverage lately, so I'm excited to see how we fare against the Wildcat (which I admit, is very fun to watch).

Oh, and Ginn! I almost forgot about Ginn. Do your job Rhys, and kick that ball out of the endzone EVERY TIME.

Dan Henning is a good coordinator who was hamstrung while coaching under Vanilla John Fox. Look for Henning to gain some revenge tomorrow night. While they won't have Ronnie Brown they still have Pat White to run the Wildcat.

The Panthers will miss Thomas Davis and Jordan Gross. Jake will be tricked into making a bad mistake by a good defense.

Panthers have this one in the bag provided Delhomme doesn't throw up another couple of goose eggs.. I think the no-huddle is doing wonders for Jake's moxy in the pocket .. he's making much better decisions and not forcing anything.. and as long as Foxy is here that's how this team will continue to win ..

Shaun...not to be picky, but I think you have your metaphors mixed up there. A "goose egg" is when a team doesn't score any points, in other words, a big old 0 on the scoreboard. I think what you were referring to was Delhomme throwing some bad passes, which when thrown ugly, are often referred to as "throwing up a duck". Presumably because it sort of looks like a wounded duck flying in the air.

That being said, I give credit to the coaches for doing something over the past 3 weeks to limit Jakes mistakes. It seems to be a combination of things...certainly to begin it was fewer passes. But, I imagine they did some work around their play calling...the QB coach probably stopped trying to mess with Jake's mechanics (which at 36, why in the world would you mess with the guy)...and this past week, using the no huddle seemed to be effective as well. But I'm not sure they can just say the no huddle will continue to solve all their problems. They need to be SMART with their game plans - but they look like they've at least figured out what this team can actually do and are making the right calls. The real question is, can they do that consistenly enough through the end of the season to actually put is in a position to grab a wild card spot. I certainly hope so.

Thanks for the correction Curtis but I know the proper term is "duck." On that note, is it just me or does anyone else notice people from the Carolinas are obsessed w/ proper verbose and grammar and are quick to point out the mistakes .. I mean, I come on here to blog casually, not write an English paper and instead I have to worry about someone pointing out a silly misnomer of mine? I think most people who read what I wrote, they'll just use deductive reasoning to figure out what I meant and then read on without pointing it out publicly .. but no, we must, and I mean MUST point out the improper use of an metaphor(adjective) on one of my comments. Why, I mean, who cares?

PS Your last paragraph (non sarcastically speaking) was right on the money, hit the nail on the head, couldn't have described the situation any better ..

Ok let's not ignore the beautiful elephant in the room but I'm more interested in what a lovely dance instructor named Jennifer (above) has to say about the match up than any of us blowhards... what do ya say Jennifer??

Okay guys I know Jennifer is hot and everything. But how come no one has blasted her for saying that if the pint-sized Steve Smith is out of the game Jake will not throw interceptions because he can now throw to taller receivers. I don't blame her. I blame everyone who has commented after her for not setting her straight. Jennifer, Smitty doesn't at all play like the short receiver he really is. He routinely out jumps defenders and is much more aggressive and physical than they are. If we finally get a real quaterback during the offseason Smith will continue to progress through a career in which he becomes the first player drafted by the Panthers to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If he doesn't play Thursday we have no receivers fast enough to stretch the field to open it up for the running game. In essence, if that happens I'll guarantee that you'll see multiple interceptions from Jake. That is, if the coaches actually let him throw the ball.

Well, Kenneth...to be frank, nobody gets a pass on these blogs. Not even Jennifer just because she is cute. Fact is, I've seen a lot of Jennifer's comments and believe me when I say, she knows a lot more about football than most dudes that post on here. You can actually expect her comments to be well thought out and usually right on point.

But, to your specific question, the reason no one blasted her for that comment is because she didn't say it. Look a little closer...you'll see all she said was "Go Panthers". It was an anonymous poster after that who said that nonsense about a "short receiver problem". Your rebuttal was correct...Smitty is definitely a guy you have to have on the field for a lot of reasons. You just directed it at the wrong poster.

I love how the Panther fans are overlooking the Dolphins! We are both 4-5 and you are favored by 3 at home which essentially means the teams are even, by betting standards. The fins dominated the Colts and Saints--but lost because they could not finish the game. Our run defense is tough, so Jake better have a great night. I am calling for at least 2 picks. Look out for Pat White and our multitude of WildCat plays-even without Ronnie.Dolphins 18-Panthers 10

Never have I ever said anything about Smitty being small....Matter of fact, I have stated otherwise, that he plays BIGGER than he is and that it was making my heart skip a beat to see him and Jake doing their thing again...

So get over the Jennifer's hot or not crap, READ what I write about the PANTHERS, and judge me accordingly....because I can promise you, there has NEVER been a post like that I have written about Smitty!!!!

WOOO HOOOO!!! Game day baby! Time for the boy (my dog Smokey) and me to sport our jerseys and take a walk down to the stadium. Dolphin fans beware...Smokey might come over and lift his leg right on your ankle!

Jen, you know I got your back! Panther and Tar Heel faithful have to stick together. That's why chumps like that Crohnkiller dude, who we called out and embarassed, haven't been back since.

I earned my A+ for today...thanks Jen ;) Time for the QB, RBs, offensive and defensive lines, LBs, and DBs to earn theirs tonight.

Good call by Newsinz - Rhys needs to be kicking as many touchbacks tonight as possible...like all the time. Our coverage on Special Teams is bloody AWFUL so we can't afford to have any big returns. I'd say the same for Baker...if we can't hold our lanes and can't make tackles, just have Baker kick it out of bounds. I'd rather lose 5 - 10 yards of field position by it going out of bounds than have those big returns or leave it up to Baker to stop a TD.